A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with one of my clients. She, along with a few of my other clients, had been sharing how difficult it is to eat ENOUGH food each day. I had them count up their calories for a few days, and I saw a consistent trend of less than 1200 calorie days amongst all of them!
My baby, Rhys, had just turned 1 years old, and I am consistently researching the best ways to feed him along with how much I should be feeding him. You know what I discovered? The amount of calories recommended for him was higher than most of their low-calorie eating days!
A 26 pound baby should not be out eating any full grown adult.
There are a variety of factors that go into determining how much you should. Things like:
- How much do you weigh?
- How active are you?
- Do you work a sedentary job?
- What kinds of workouts are you doing?
- What are your health goals?
Despite those factors, I can tell you this - as a grown woman, you should never be consuming less than 1400 calories!! I don't care if you weight only 100lbs. Less than 1400 is not enough intake to provide your body with what it NEEDS to operate optimally.
If you consistently eat too little, your body will go into a stress state, where it perceives that you are in famine. It will then hold on to your body fat and store what you DO eat as fat, to ensure that you do not run out of a means to function.
Restricting calories can also lead to hypothyroid issues, excessive carb cravings, belly fat storage, increased inflammation, and the exacerbation of existing health problems.
If you are some one that skips breakfast or lunch, eats a salad with a little chicken, and a light meal for dinner - you're probably under eating.
You need to be eating 3 full size meals a day along with 2 snacks.
Here is my version of the "MyPlate" food recommendations, along with an explanation of what each part of the meal entails.
Here's how it plays out:
In general, a meal should include about 30g of protein, certainly no less than 20g. This usually equates to about 5 ounces of meat.
Enjoy 1/2 cup of starches - foods like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, potatoes, etc.
Include some form of healthy fat - avocado, grass fed butter, olive oil, nuts or nut butter, quality fatty meat (chicken thighs, beef with fat), etc.
Go crazy on the veggies. Choose multiple kinds. Enjoy some cruciferous veggies like brussel sprouts, broccoli, or kale along with a root veggie like carrots, beets, or parsnips.
The combinations are endless.
At the end of the day, make sure you aren't thwarting your health efforts by buying into the idea that eating very low amounts of food will promote health in your body!
Eat more nutrient dense food!